Sunday, October 28, 2012

Future Scope: Glaverow Volcanic Zone New Guardians Notes

They have not arrive at our version yet but I think they will come any time soon, probably before v1.1 update. I'm compiling in advance using the Guardian Cross (GC) Jp Wiki.

Update (04/11/12): Found the 4*! They are fire type.

5*

Machine

Chariot
Shape: Wolf

Skills:

Level 1: Heavy Blow (physical+2)
Level 15: Cross Slash (physical+2)
Level 30: Greater Might (attack+20%)
Level 40: Greater Haste (agility+20%)
Level 50: Storm Impact (physical+4)

Comments: Fast physical attacker with high attack, agility, defence and HP. This one looks really potent. The skill choices aren't too hard to make: Skill 3, 4 and 5. Update (04/11/12): Think of it as a 5* version of Vampire

Fire

Aguni
Shape: Humanoid

Skills:

Level 1: Explosion (fire+3)
Level 15: Heavy Blow (physical+2)
Level 30: Greater Protect (defence+20%)
Level 40: Double Impact (physical+3)
Level 50: Meteorstorm (fire+4)

Comments: This look like an strong all-round Elemental attacker Guardian as the Defence buff covers its lowest stat. The last 3 skills are the best.

Lightning

Sukerusu
Shape: Humanoid

Skills:

Level 1: Thunder Strike (lightning+2)
Level 15: Heavy Blow (physical+2)
Level 30: Call Lightning (lightning+3)
Level 40: Double Impact (physical+3)
Level 50: Chain Lightning (lightning+4)

Comments: Its highest stats are in attack and wisdom. He is highly offensive but low in agility and defence. He don't look like a strong one. The skill stat is very similar to Frankenstein except the +4 is Chain Lightning instead of a physical attack. The last 3 skills are its best.

Earth

Etein
Shape: Giant

Skills:

Level 1: Cunning (wisdom+10%)
Level 15: Rock bite (earth+3)
Level 30: Mind Blast (wisdom-20%)
Level 40: Greater Cunning (wisdom+20%)
Level 50: Earthquake (earth+4)

Comments: High wisdom and defence Guardian. It is one of the few Guardians that naturally learns an earth +4 attack. Earth attack is good against lightning (Lightning Lord) and Poison (Azi Dakaha) and it learns wisdom buffs and debuffs for an even more powerful attack. The last 3 skills are the best.

4*

Fire

Gaimu
Shape: Humanoid

Skills:

Level 1: Cross Slash (Physical+2)
Level 15: Greater Cunning (Wisdom+20%)
Level 30: Burning Strike (Fire+2)
Level 40: Life Drain (HP Drain)
Level 50: Mind Blast (Wisdom-20%)

Comments: The card art looks like the Guardian, Power of the Snow Field zone. They may be part of some fallen Angel squad from Heaven! This is a good elemental attack that requires an elemental +3 attack stone. Skills: 2, 5 and 3, 3 to be replaced with an elemental+3 attack stone.

Brigiddo

Shape: Humanoid

Skills:

Level 1: Burning Strike (Fire+2)
Level 15: Heal (HP Recover)
Level 30: Explosion (Fire+3)
Level 40: Life Drain (HP Drain)
Level 50: Greater Cunning (Wisdom+20%)

Comments: Good Elemental attacker. 1 skill slot is wasted because you just want to get rid of the heal and drain. Skills: 1,3 and 5.


3*

?

?
Shape: ?

Skills:

Level 1: ?
Level 15: ?
Level 30: ?
Level 40: ?
Level 50: ?

Comments: ?


2*

Lightning

Ipiria
Shape: Could be Wolf

Skills:

Level 1: Thunderbolt (lightning+1)
Level 15: ?
Level 30: ?
Level 40: ?
Level 50: ?

Comments: Not enough information.

Water

Asubidokeron
Shape: Could be Wolf.

Skills:

Level 1: Aqua Splash (water+1)
Level 15: ?
Level 30: ?
Level 40: ?
Level 50: ?

Comments: Not enough information.

iTunes App Store link: Guardian Cross - SQUARE ENIX

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Future Scope: 2nd Invitational Guardians Notes

This is going to take a while to reach us so take it as a preview of what's to come. If you have 10 more people to refer after the 1st Invitational Guardians, you can get these:


The name translations may not be accurate and all information gotten by me translating from Guardian Cross (GC) Jp Wiki link.

1 Referral 

Water 4*

Ana Hita

Level 1: Aqua Shot (water+2)
Level 15: Cunning (wisdom+10%)
Level 30: Greater Heal (Big HP recovery)
Level 40: Aqua Blast (water+3)
Level 50: Greater Protect (defence+20%)

Comments: The highest stats is HP followed by Defence and then Wisdom. Probably a defensive Elemental-type. Go for skills 2, 4 and 5.

3 Referrals

Fire 4*
Peri

Level 1: Burning Strike (fire+2)
Level 15: Mind Blast (wisdom-20%)
Level 30: Energy Drain (MP Drain)
Level 40: Explosion (fire+3)
Level 50: Greater Cunning (wisdom+20%)

Comments: The highest stats is Wisdom, which is further boosted by Greater Cunning, followed by MP and then Agility. Probably an offensive Elemental-type. The skills combination of 2, 4 and 5 makes for a very powerful elemental attacker.

5 Referrals 

Light 4*
Va Cha (I'm guessing the name could be Virtual. Update 28/10/2012: Virtue seems more approriate)

Level 1: Shine Smite (light+2)
Level 15: Greater Haste (agility+20%)
Level 30: Shine Blast (light+3)
Level 40: Greater Cunning (wisdom+20%)
Level 50: Greater Might (attack+20%)

Comments: The highest stats is Defence followed by Attack (further booster by Greater Might if learned) and then Health. You can build her as an elemental attacker or physical attacker due to the 2 buffs available. For elemental attacker, use skills 2, 3 and 4. For physical attacker, skills 2, 5 and a +3 physical attack stone.

7 Referrals

Machine 5*
Iron Maiden

Level 1: Cross Slash (physical+2)
Level 15: Greater Might (attack+20%)
Level 30: Hard Slash (physical+3)
Level 40: Greater Haste (agility+20%)
Level 50: Thousand Slash (physical+4)

Comments: The artwork is quite cool on this one. High attack, defence and HP and gets an agility boost through Greater Haste if learned. The skill choices aren quite straightforward: Skill 2, 4 and 5. I think she is rather powerful. Update (04/11/12): Think of it as a 5* version of Vampire

10 Referrals

Death 5*
Banshee Requiem

Level 1: Dark Pain (dark+2)
Level 15: Defence Down (defence-20%)
Level 30: Dark Psalm (dark+3)
Level 40: Life Drain (HP drain)
Level 50: Revival (revive)

Comments: Banshee's big sister. High MP, wisdom, agility and defence. The skill choices aren't too hard to make: Skill 2, 3 and 5. The debuff is a bit of a waste as Requiem is more of an elemental attacker than physical. Being a 5*, she is meant to take down the opponent and not as a debuffer for subsequent Guardians. Perhaps, she can use a +4 physical in replacement of her dark attack.

iTunes App Store link: Guardian Cross - SQUARE ENIX

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

State of Guardian Cross Coliseum Games now

Imagine if you can join a Yuigoh/Magic card tournament with different identities and use a single powerful deck to get placing. Or imagine you can join with a group of friends but share your powerful cards together. Or imagine you can join the above tournaments with photostatted copies of powerful cards. To a certain big degree, the above scenarios are happening in the Coliseum Games now.

I was collecting up resources for part 4 of my trainer notes but I'm starting to realise how apparent the above situations are in the Coliseum game now when the person who wrote a great guide about the meta, Tiduskun of the guardiancross-forum is quitting the game. Read his thread and reasons here. You might also notice the irony that his raffle has rules to prevent "duplicate accounts".

One half of what makes up Guardian Cross has lost a lot of its "fun". Hunting is what I look forward to the most now.

iTunes App Store link: Guardian Cross - SQUARE ENIX

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Guardian Cross Berneside Plains 10 New Guardian Notes

I manage to get these information by inferring from Guardian Cross (GC) Jp Wiki link as well as these threads (1, 2) from guardiancross-forum.com for help in the names. I'll put the shapes first as these will help in hunting.

Update(09/10/2012): Added skills translated from Guardian Cross (GC) Jp Wiki link and my comments. I will try to talk more about the Guardians' stats here unlike the 3* guardians that I did earlier.

5*

Machine

Gargantua
Shape: Floater

Skills:

Level 1: Cross Slash (physical+2)
Level 15: Heavy Blow (physical+2)
Level 30: Hard Slash (physical+3)
Level 40: Double Impact (physical+3)
Level 50: Storm Impact (physical+4)

Comments: Strong physical attacker with high attack and defence. The skill choices aren't too hard to make: Skill 3, 4 and 5.

Water

Apsara
Shape: Humanoid

Skills:

Level 1: Aqua Slash (water+1)
Level 15: Aqua Shot (water+2)
Level 30: Greater Haste (agility+20%)
Level 40: Mind Blast (wisdom-20%)
Level 50: Maelstrom (water+4)

Comments: From the stats, this look like a fast elemental attacker. It comes with its own wisdom debuff to benefit immediately by dealing more damage with its water attacks. Note that the debuff does not trigger for the next guardian opponent. The last 3 skills are the best.

Undead

Frankenstien
Shape: Giant

Skills:

Level 1: Heavy Blow (physical+2)
Level 15: Thunder Strike (lightning+2)
Level 30: Double Impact (physical+3)
Level 40: Call Lightning (lightning+3)
Level 50: Storm Impact (physical+4)

Comments: High HP, attack and defence. I think he is a physical attacker but he gets lightning abilities as well. The best 3 skills should be the best unless you get a powerful one, which you probably should choose all the physical attack moves. I read some people comparing it to Titan but Titan's moves include buffs which, in my opinion, makes it stronger.

Poison

Azi Dahaka
Shape: Wolf

Skills:

Level 1: Poison Mist (poison+2)
Level 15: Poison Field (poison+3)
Level 30: Slow (agility-20%)
Level 40: Mind Blast (wisdom-20%)
Level 50: Venom Riot (poison+4)

Comments: This is similar to Apsara, with 2 debuffs instead. The HP, attack and wisdom stats are high. I think it will probably work best near or at the end of the team as the debuffs only work on the first guardian, following which, it will be left with a Poison+4 attack for the remaining of the match. Last 3 skills are the best.


4*

Wind

Qiong-Ji 
Shape: Giant

Skills:

Level 1: Wind Cutter (wind+1)
Level 15: Haste (agility+10%)
Level 30: Wind Edge (wind+2)
Level 40: Slow (agility-20%)
Level 50: Greater Haste (agility+20%)

Comments: This guardian is strong in attack and agility. It desperately needs a physical+3 attack to replace Skill 3. Otherwise, it will be stuck with the last 3 skills.

Death

Revenant
Shape: Floater

Skills:

Level 1: Darkness (darkness+1)
Level 15: Hard Blow (physical+1)
Level 30: Dark Pain (darkness+2)
Level 40: Heavy Blow (physical+2)
Level 50: Dark Psalm (darkness+3)

Comments: It has high attack, defence and wisdom. I find the artwork very cool. The last 3 skills are recommended.


3*

Undead

Grim Reaper
Shape: Floater

Skills:

Level 1: Darkness (darkness+1)
Level 15: Dark Pain (darkness+2)
Level 30: Slow (agility-20%)
Level 40: Mind Blast (wisdom-20%)
Level 50: Dark Psalm (darkness+3)

Comments: It has high attack and wisdom and can be use as a debuffer like Nue. The biggest difference is that it has a +3 attack skill which can deal quite an amount of damage. Skills 3,4 and 5 are the best.

Fire

Surtr
Shape: Giant

Skills:

Level 1: Burning Beat (fire+1)
Level 15: Hard Blow (physical+1)
Level 30: Burning Strike (fire+2)
Level 40: Heavy Blow (physical+2)
Level 50: Explosion (fire+3)

Comments: It has high HP, attack and defence. The last 3 skills are the best.


2*

Light

Scarab
Shape: Bird

Skills:

Level 1: Holy Light (light+1)
Level 15: ?
Level 30: ?
Level 40: ?
Level 50: ?

Comments: Not enough information.

Dark

Ammit
Shape: Wolf

Skills:


Level 1: Darkness (darkness+1)
Level 15: ?
Level 30: ?
Level 40: ?
Level 50: ?

Comments: Not enough information.

iTunes App Store link: Guardian Cross - SQUARE ENIX

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Guardian Cross Glaverow Volcanic Zone and 1st Round Invitation 3* Guardian Notes


Glaverow Volcanic Zone 3* Guardians

Fire

Vrtra
Shape: Serpent
Skills:

Level 1: Hard Blow (physical+1)
Level 15: Weakness (attack-20%)
Level 30: Heavy Blow (physical+2)
Level 40: Defense Down (defend-20%)
Level 50: ?


Comments: Physical Attacker. It has 2 debuff skills which are rare for Guardians.


Chimera
Shape: Wolf
Skills:

Level 1: Burning Beat (fire+1)
Level 15: Heavy Blow (physical+2)
Level 30: Burning Strike (fire+2)
Level 40: Slow (agility-20%)
Level 50: ?


Comments: Elemental Attacker. Agility-20% will be useful.


Earth

Cemmunos
Shape: Humanoid
Skills:
Level 1: Greater Might (attack+20%)
Level 15: Hard Blow (physical+1)
Level 30: Heavy Blow (physical+2)
Level 40: Mind Blast (wisdom-20%)
Level 50: Double Impact (physical+3)

Comments: Strong physical attacker with a debuff skill. I don't think it needs anymore stone with Skills 1,4,5.

Lightning

Nue
Shape: Wolf
Skills:
Level 1: Thunder Bolt (lightning+1)
Level 15: Slow (agility-20%)
Level 30: Mind Blast (wisdom-20%)
Level 40: Defense Down (defense-20%)
Level 50: Thunder Strike (lightning+2)

Comments: The next popular debuffer guardian other than Slime as it can learn up to 3 Debuffer skills. I think it is possible that 2 is enough, wisdom-20% and agility-20%, for placing in front of an elemental attacker. Skills 2,3 and 4/5. If using 2 debuff skills, replace skill 5 with a lightning+3 to deal some damage.

Wind

Wendigo
Shape: Giant
Skills:
Level 1: Wind Cutter (wind+1)
Level 15: Haste (agility+10%)
Level 30: Wind Edge (wind+2)
Level 40: Greater Haste (agility+20%)
Level 50: Whirlwind (wind+3)

Comments: This is like Jinn but without the debuff skill. I will have it learn Skills 2,4 and 5 and be a really fast physical attacker.


Hanuman
Shape: Giant
Skills:
Level 1: Wind Cutter (wind+1)
Level 15: Greater Protect (defense+20%)
Level 30: ?
Level 40: ?
Level 50: ?

Comments: Not enough information but with a defense+20% skill so early, it could be a strong guardian.


Poison

Basilisk
Shape: Serpent
Skills:
Level 1: Poison Bubble (poison+1)
Level 15: Mind Blast (wisdom-20%)
Level 30: ?
Level 40: ?
Level 50: ?

Comments: Not enough information. It has a debuff skill which can be useful.


Mecha

Berserker
Shape: Giant
Skills:
Level 1: Slash (physical+1)
Level 15: Cross Slash (physical+2)
Level 30: Hard Slash (physical+3)
Level 40: Might (attack+10%)
Level 50: Protect (defend+10%)

Comments: Medium physical attacker as although it has physical+3, the buffs it gain is small. You also can't teach it any stronger buff skills. Use Skills 3,4 and 5.


Light

Kirin
Shape: Wolf
Skills:
Level 1: Heal (small HP gain)
Level 15: Holy Light (light+1)
Level 30: ?
Level 40: ?
Level 50: ?

Comments: Not enough information.


Unicorn
Shape: Wolf
Skills:
Level 1: Hard Blow (physical+1)
Level 15: Heal (small HP gain)
Level 30: Greater Might (attack+20%)
Level 40: Hard Slash (physical+3)
Level 50: Greater Heal (huge HP gain)

Comments: Strong physical attacker but one of the ability is wasted as you'll probably want to avoid the heal spells and use: Skill 1,3,4.


Darkness

Succubus
Shape: Humanoid
Skills:
Level 1: Mind Blast (wisdom-20%)
Level 15: Dark Pain (darkness+2)
Level 30: Cross Slash (physical+2)
Level 40: Energy Drain (MP drain)
Level 50: Life Drain (HP drain)

Comments: The debuff skill is useful but it has 2 slots wasted with drain spells. I will probably use Skills 1,2,3. A darkness+3 stone will be good as it combines well with wisdom-20%, replacing the darkness+2 skill.

1st Round Invitation 3* Guardians


Light

Mandragora
Shape: Floater
Skills:
Level 1: Holy Light (light+1)
Level 15: Cunning (wisdom+10%)
Level 30: Greater Haste (agility+20%)
Level 40: Greater Cunning (wisdom+20%)
Level 50: Shine Smite (light+2)

Comments: Strong and fast elemental attacker with skills 3,4 and 5. Replace light+2 with a light+3 for a stronger guardian.


Earth

Spriggan
Shape: Floater
Skills:
Level 1: Ice Needle (earth+1)
Level 15: Cunning (wisdom+10%)
Level 30: Ice Spike (earth+2)
Level 40: Greater Haste (agility+20%)
Level 50: Rock Bite (earth+3)

Comments: I have no idea why "ice" is involved with earth attacks but this is a strong elemental attacker. I think Earth+3 skill is rare and this is one of the few guardians that have it. Use Skills 2,4 and 5.


Darkness

Good King Moggle Mog XII
Shape: Humanoid
Skills:
Level 1: Protect (defense+10%)
Level 15: Darkness (darkness+1)
Level 30: Greater Cunning (wisdom+20%)
Level 40: Dark Pain (darkness+2)
Level 50: Greater Protect (defense+20%)

Comments: Strong elemental attacker with the rare wisdom buff for a 3* if you can add a darkness+3 stone to replace darkness+2. Use Skills 3,4,5.




In conclusion, the stronger ones from Glaverow Volcanic Zone and 1st Round Invitation, in my opinion, are Cemmunos, Nue, Wendigo, Berserker, Unicorn, Mandragora, Spriggan and Good King Moggle Mog XII. There are naturally stronger guardians in the Glaverow Volcanic Zone as it is harder to hunt there.

Credits to Guardian Cross (GC) Jp Wiki link for most of the information and Guardian Cross Guide Blog for names and shape.

iTunes App Store link: Guardian Cross - SQUARE ENIX

Guardian Cross Berneside Plains 3* Guardian Notes

I'm not sure if the Guardian Cross Guide Blog is going to do anything on 3* but since I can read a little Japanese/use Google Translate, I will try to make some notes about these Guardians with whatever is available at the Wiki link. In summary for 3*s, there are only a few Guardians with +3 attack and I reckon those, along with the 2 water-type with Revival skill (I'm going to bold these skills), will be the strongest. With that said, most of them will be more useful from getting +3 attack stones. I'll be leaving out the stats but will comment on any notable stats. I post on the first hunting zone first.

Berneside Plains 3* Guardians

Fire

Lindworm
Shape: Wolf
Skills:
Level 1: Hard Blow (physical+1)
Level 15: Weakness (attack-20%)
Level 30: Heavy Blow (physical+2)
Level 40: Greater Protect (defend+20%)
Level 50: Double Impact (physical+3)

Comments: Strong Physical Attacker. You can use skill 1,3,5 to make it into a mini-Hecatoncheir.

Water


Naga
Shape: Serpent
Skills:
Level 1: Aqua Splash (water+1)
Level 15: Heal (small HP gain)
Level 30: Protect (defend+10%)
Level 40: Aqua Shot (water+2)
Level 50: Revival (Revive)

Comments: Elemental attacker. I will use it with Skill 3,4 and 5.

Hydra
Shape: Serpent
Skills:
Level 1: Hard Blow (physical +1)
Level 15: Protect (defend+10%)
Level 30: Greater Protect (defend+20%)
Level 40: Heavy Blow (physical +2)
Level 50: Revival (Revive)

Comments: Defensive physical attacker. I will use it with Skill 3,4 and 5.


Earth


Humbaba
Shape: Giant
Skills:
Level 1: Aqua Splash (water+1)
Level 15: Burning Beat (fire+1)
Level 30: Aqua Shot (water+2)
Level 40: Poison Bubble (poison +1)
Level 50: ?

Comments: This guardian gains 3 types of different elemental attacks. It can act as a swiss army knife against a variety of Guardians but the attacks are low. I used it before turning it into a feeder and I didn't find it strong.

Lightning


Cyclops
Shape: Giant
Skills:
Level 1: Hard Blow (physical +1)
Level 15: Greater Protect (defend+20%)
Level 30: ?
Level 40: ?
Level 50: ?

Comments: There is not much information but with Greater Protect gained so early, I think the later skills should be quite strong.

Furfur
Shape: Wolf
Skills:
Level 1: Thunder Bolt (lightning+1)
Level 15: Wind Cutter (wind+1)
Level 30: Haste (agility+10%)
Level 40: Thunder Strike (lightning+2)
Level 50: Energy Drain (MP drain)

Comments: I used to have this Guardian at the beginning before I used as experience feeder and from memory, it was pretty strong. It will probably be useful if you level it to max and give it lightning+3. I will use Skill 2,3,4 from the existing skill set and replacing wind+1 with a lightning+3 stone when available.

Wind

Jinn
Shape: Humanoid
Skills:
Level 1: Wind Cutter (wind+1)
Level 15: Greater Haste (agility+20%)
Level 30: Wind Edge (wind+2)
Level 40: Weakness (attack-20%)
Level 50: Whirlwind (wind+3)

Comments: I think this is one of the stronger guardian with a +3 attack skill and can be used as a debuffer too. I will have it learn Skills 2,4 and 5.

Poison

Cait Sith
Shape: Humanoid
Skills:
Level 1: Poison Bubble (poison+1)
Level 15: Slow (agility-20%)
Level 30: Slash (physical+1)
Level 40: Poison Mist (poison+2)
Level 50: Cross Slash (physical+2)

Comments: I put a Poison+3 attack on mine, an Ace on my first hunt of the game and it has high agility enough to deal some damage while also debuffing the opponent. Skills 2,4 and 5 are recommended with skill 4 replaced with a poison+3 when available.

Light

Sphinx
Shape: Wolf
Skills:
Level 1: Holy Light (light+1)
Level 15: Greater Might (attack+20%)
Level 30: Mind Blast (wisdom-20%)
Level 40: Hard Blow (physical+1)
Level 50: Heavy Blow (physical+2)

Comments: I remember facing some maxed Sphinx and they were quite strong. It has a defbuff ability which is always useful and is mostly a physical attacker due to the attack+20% skill. It just need a physical+3 stone. Skills 2,3,5 with skill 5 to be replaced with physical+3 when available.

Darkness

Diabolos
Shape: Humanoid
Skills:
Level 1: Darkness (darkness+1)
Level 15: Slash (physical+1)
Level 30: Cross Slash (physical+2)
Level 40: Greater Might (attack+20%)
Level 50: Greater Protect (defend+20%)

Comments: Physical attacker due to Greater Might. Needs a physical+3 stone. I will have it learn Skills 3,4,5 with skill 3 replaced by physical+3 when available.

None

Silver Slime
Shape: Slime
Skills:
Level 1: Heal (small HP gain)

Comments: A "currency" for the game and the best experience feeder in Berneside Plains.


In conclusion, the stronger ones from Berneside Plains, in my opinion, are Lindworm, Naga, Hydra, Furfur, Jinn and Cait Sith.

Credits to Guardian Cross (GC) Jp Wiki link for most of the information and Guardian Cross Guide Blog for names and shape.

iTunes App Store link: Guardian Cross - SQUARE ENIX

Guardian Cross Trainer Notes Part 3

Link to Part 2

This is part 3 and it's a little late as I've been busy. At this time of writing, we have below 2 days left to the 3rd Coliseum game event.

To all new Guardian Trainers joining this game, add my code when you the start: AM86879 when you first start the game and we will both get rare limited-edition Final Fantasy cards!

- If you find yourself setting an alarm clock to remind you to play the game as your energy points are full, beware, the game has probably taken over your life. I, myself, am guilty of doing it a few times.

- Excellent forums, especially the Tips and Tricks section at guardiancrossforum.com and guardiancross-forum.com. The former forum is now closed and continued in the latter forum. However, there are still posts found in the closed forum and I'm not sure if it will get transferred.

- Excellent Coliseum tips by Getatme over at the guardiancross-forum.com. In summary, target the 3rd weakest in the 5 choices, followed by the 2nd weakest and then the weakest. If you are nearing a win streak chain bonus, target accordingly to maximise your chance of getting the bonus. For example, if you already have 3 wins coming into the Coliseum and going for the 5 win streak, you'll want to target the 2nd weakest first, followed by the weakest to ensure a higher chance of getting the bonus. In all scenarios, if you lose, at least you can probably start a new chain again. It is a smart strategy but the tricky part is still about ranking the weaker teams out of 5 and your luck. Your opponent may have a low attack due to some "filler" guardians among 4-5* guardians at maxed level/ace/maxed stoned or all the above.

- I think the key to Coliseum games are the chain bonus, total number of wins bonus and the x1.2 bonus. At the start of a Coliseum game, it is easy to rack up bonuses after bonuses (including Domination ones if you have a strong guardian in front). I'm guessing it is due to the top players contemplating quitting and are selling their cards. However, you will reach a time/rank where you lose your chain. At this point, it may possibly be better to stop and let your rankings drop as much as possible before starting the climb and chain again. The only problem is that we are constantly getting Coliseum tickets as we also need to try to improve our Guardians through hunting. Always keep a lookout at your records for total number of wins as when you approach the hundredth fiftieth win, you get bonus points too and you will definitely want to time it to fall within the x1.2 period.

- Domination bonus is only possible at low rankings, speaking of which, a tip will be to use your most powerful guardian with revival skill as the first, Phoenix or Vampire Matron. This is because I think reviving counts as not using a 2nd guardian thus ensuring the bonus.

- In Coliseum between Rank A, which has neither special tickets nor Guardians and Rank B+, which has 2 special tickets. Generally, if you have a choice, Rank A with its better stones is better if your team is already strong. There are some 5* guardians like Phoenix without a +4 attack skill and I think Rank A stones might give those. Rank B+ is good for those still building up their team or need more stronger guardians for upcoming Coliseum games.

- You can go out of the Coliseum game with the back button but the opponents stay fixed and your wins and losses in that ticket remains. This is useful if you want to go modify your team and technically speaking, you can actually store up to 6 Coliseum tickets. You will not use up any tickets to re-enter the Coliseum. I haven't tried quitting the game inside the Coliseum though.

- Regarding debuffer guardians like Slime, it is generally agreed in forums that they are not necessary at high rankings as the teams are filled with high levels and your debuffer will have been a wasted slot and easy kill. I personally find that the key to use debuffer is when you notice you have a guardian in your team that does nothing, has no debuffer skill and gets 1-shot. It will be more useful to have a debuffer guardian that does nothing, gets 1-shot but at least applied debuff to the opponent. I prefer Guardians with a debuff skill like Medusa or Pazuzu but do note that the debuff only happens to the first guardian it encounters. If it kills it, the next guardian coming out do not get debuffed.

- Best debuffer guardians in my and everybody's opinion should be the 1* Slime and 3* Nue. I also think that only the first 2 debuffs out of the 3 they can learn are enough. Slime, with its -20% Agility and Defense, is excellent in front of a physical attack guardian while Nue, with its -20% Agility and Wisdom, is great in front of an elemental attack guardian. I personally find that slot 1 and slot 9 are best slots for the debuffer. Debuffers will probably play a bigger role in future Coliseum games where there are heavier restrictions like team member number, certain zone-only, certain guardian shape-only or certain level-only. I'm lookng forward to those as they require a bit more strategy.

- Windyfox has completed the guide on all Level 4* and 5* guardians over at the Guardian Cross Guide Blog. Read it for tips on how to train your guardians! Note, there is also another contributor to the blog, dkreangdoon. I don't know if Level 3* guardians will be reviewed next but seeing how the JP Wiki link did not complete most of the abilities of them, I doubt there will be. I think most of the players are using 3* guardians as feeders. In my experience, a Max Level 50 3* can deal quite a lot of damage too but most of them probably picked up a +3 attack from stones. I'll try to do a brief review based on what is available in the wiki and what I know in a separate post if I have the time. Again, 3* will play a bigger role in future Coliseums with different rules and heavier restrictions.

- You can sacrifice a highly trained guardian to feed another but personally, I think it is not worth it as there are some "discounts" to the exp gained. With the upcoming Coliseum games, it's best to keep them around instead as they may be needed, unless they are the same guardian of course.

- Interesting post about Agility calculation by Lineage over at the guardiancross-forum.com. Food for thought.

- With the newest sub-mission, the best AI to grind GP and tickets after you completed everything is now O-type wild guardians in Kaitsu Cavern 2/2 Level 37 by the bottom right torch or Level 40 by the treasure chest. Credits to sonicsonic and demon85 with their post over at the hardwarezone forum Guardian Cross thread.

- Important information: Square Enix uses your iOS devices' Mac Address to identify your account. I think it is already an important rule for any Mac Addresses but anyway, do not share any of your devices, be it laptop or video game consoles, Mac Addresses with anyone. Mac Address is a unique identify for a device. I've read earlier that Apple do not allow developers to use a device unique ID and Square probably will not have used that as it will get their app rejected by the App Store. If someone gets your Mac Address for your iOS device, they can spoof it and enter the game in your account! Square Enix also bans users through the Mac Address.
Credits to insanica03 with his post over at the hardwarezone forum Guardian Cross thread.

- If you have a lot of money invested in the game, losing your iDevices will be a huge nightmare!

The 3rd Coliseum Game has ended and I got B+ again. The next game's rules are actually the same. I thought it will be the Berneside Plains-only games which change things a little and make it interesting but no.

Update 27/10/2012: I will not be continuing with part 4. Get your game tips from the guardiancross-forums.com's Tips and Tricks section.

iTunes App Store link: Guardian Cross - SQUARE ENIX

Saturday, October 6, 2012

One Piece AR Carddass Formation 02 (World) is now out in Singapore

It was out last Friday. If you are still playing this, you can get it at Comics Connection outlets. No news of any promotion like the first series. I think there is probably none this time round.

iTunes App Store link: ONE PIECE AR CARDDASS Formation (WORLD) - NamcoBandai Games Inc.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

The "other side" of Guardian Cross and my thoughts on the upcoming Android version

I have more notes for part 3 of my Trainer Notes Post but these 2 topics are very interesting and I intend to write them first and promote awareness.

1) Beware of Scammers (guardiancrossforum.com)

This just goes to show how serious this game has gotten that people have started scams. Some of the cards are worth a lot with a few are even going for hundreds of dollars and this will naturally attract greed and dishonesty.

Most of the scams are due to the current design of the trading system in the game. It doesn't show the type of the guardian (promised ace but give another type) and I think there is a limit to the number of guardians you can trade at a time (promise x number of silver slimes but after the first batch, stopped trading and kept the guardian). The worst possible cases that can happen are that cards get sold but after the money was transferred, the buyer did not receive the chosen card or get a card of a different type than promised. There are also cases of duplication of cards in the game, probably due to a glitch. It is a huge problem as it is hard to identify if your card is duped and more importantly, it can get you banned from the game.

You can avoid scammers in trade by having a middleman inspect both sides of the deal before letting the deal go through/the traded cards will pass through the middleman. It should solve most of the problems except for identifying of duped cards and if the middleman himself makes off with both parts of the deal! However, I do not think it is very hard to add a 'type' indicator to the trading system as well as increase the trading limit. Hopefully, Square Enix will roll out an update soon and solve these problems by episode 2.

In the meantime, take note of the names and in-game name/nickname (IGN) in the forum thread link above. Do also note that the thread in the link will be shifted to a new forum. (guardiancross-forum.com)

2) Android version of Guardian Cross

I think there is quite a lot of anticipation over the roll-out of the Android version of the game. I can guess that the delay is due to the huge number of different Android devices that Square Enix have to test in order to ensure the game works on the most number of devices possible. The adoption rate of Android devices is also huge, particularly in the Samsung Galaxy models. I think quite a number of people have swapped their iPhones for Android phones with bigger screens.

The anticipation for this new version by current iOS players is due to the expansion of market and a big influx of new players which means more businesses and trading. However, I think it is very likely that the Android version will be 'closed' within the Android players. The situation should be similar to how the Japan version is different from our English version.

I'm guessing the reason is that the Coliseum games is already in the 3rd round and continuing every week. By the time the Android version gets released, the new Android players are left out of quite a number of mighty and almighty guardians, not counting the fact that most of the iOS players have a head-start and are generally more powerful. There is also probability that people who own both iOS and Android devices to start trading over guardians to the new account and separating these 2 versions will reduce such cases. (This is already happening for iOS)

This is just my hypothetical guess and there may still be a chance that Androids will join in at the Nth Coliseum game but I'm looking forward to starting the game over again and rebuilding a new team with my Samsung Galaxy S2!

iTunes App Store link: Guardian Cross - SQUARE ENIX

Monday, October 1, 2012

Guardian Cross Trainer Notes Part 2

Link to Part 1

Add my code: AM86879 when you first start the game and we will both get rare limited-edition Final Fantasy cards!

- Wiki link. Loads of resources here but you need to put it through google translate if you don't understand Japanese.

- Possible upcoming Coliseum game rules from Japan can be found in the above wiki. The most interesting ones are the Hunting Ground type Guardians restriction, Humanoid-type Guardian restriction and no strongest system which I'm guessing is no Ultra Rare (Rank 5) allowed. Be prepared to train Rank 4-3 Guardians if you were concentrating on Rank 4-5

- It seems like as you reach the end of B+ rank in Coliseum games, the teams get weaker. They are probably people trying to lower their rank from A as that reward does not contain any special Hunting tickets.

- In story mode, you can challenge back Guardians which you have already defeated and are marked with ticks.

- Currently, in the Bahamut Descent event which you can catch Bahamut, one of the strongest Guardians in the game, it is one of the large Bird-shaped Guardian that is spawned in the Glaverow Volcanic Zone region. The health is stored in your save game and you can continue to catch it again when it re-appears. With this Bahamut event, I've been seeing less appearances of the large Guardian, although mine is currently a wolf and I'll have to catch it and hope for a bird one in the next spawn. Edit: In special hunting, apparently you can get Bahamut from a bird-shaped Guardian.

- In this 2nd Coliseum games, I'm seeing quite a number of Level 60 Rank 5 Guardians in Rank B+ and A.

- Beware of how you manage your GP points and leveling Guardians. I wasted a lot of GP while combining low level Guardians to power up my main Guardians which is really a waste and now I've completed the game's episode 1 while still having insufficient GP/levels for my Guardians. Currently, I'm just selling everything from Rank 2 and below and relying on Rank 3s from special tickets for leveling.

- Best Friend point redemption in my opinion is Recovery Potions at 150 points. It should definitely get you a combination of more than 3 hunting tickets/coliseum tickets. Special Hunting tickets can just be bought and as of the Boon of Gods reward, the game has been out in Japan for months and nobody has redeemed it. I think it is possible that the game is so competitive that people are redeeming rewards and not saving up.

- Hunting Ground Tips by Windyfox from the Guardian Cross Guide Blog. The "glitch" talked about for hunting the large Guardian isn't really a glitch in my opinion. It's just the way the game works. Your game is saved everytime you exit from something or finish something. For example, if you exit the game after defeating an AI and during the reward screen, you are about to get a 6th ticket, you can stop it from happening and when you restart the game, that AI is left undefeated by you.
Update: To further expand on this, I don't know if the game decides that you caught a Bahamut when the giant bird-type Guardian is first generated or when caught. You can also exit the game if you caught a Suzuka and re-capture the giant Guardian again to see if it changes to Bahamut but unless someone can confirm about Bahamut's generation, it is expensive to waste your hunting tickets. Update 04/10/2012: I've read in the guardiancross-forum.com that a player still manages to capture a Bahamut from the big bird shadow after the event was over in Japan. This more or less confirms that Bahamut is decided at the point when the big guardian is generated.

- After you defeat Lazarus, the final boss, there is a chest at that stage but the game "kicks" you back out to the world map. Be sure to travel all the way back to get it! I got a normal hunting ticket from it.

- If you completed episode 1, you can do what most players are doing and that is to keep challenging Clark the merchant at the top right corner of the Town of Mechadane. It is the town before the first bridge I think.

- I got at least 3 app crashes so far on my iPad 2 and 2 of them were during normal hunting. The ticket is deducted at the start of a hunt so if the game crashes, you lose the ticket and whatever you've hunted for that hunt!

- 2X of 3* Water and Lightning Guardians are found in Berneside Plains Zone while 2X of 3* Wind, Fire and Light Guardians are in Glaverow Volcanic Zone. Mecha Guardians are rare in the sense that a 2* is found in Berneside while the 3* is found in Glaverow. These information should be useful when hunting for feeders; If you are leveling a certain type of Guardian, the zone matters.

The 2nd Coliseum Game has ended and I got B+ rank again. It seems there are more people pumping money into the game as when I was in Rank B+, I'm seeing lots of teams with multiple 5-4* Max guardians. I wish episode 2 will come soon as it is getting repetitive to face Clark everyday!

Link to Part 3

iTunes App Store link: Guardian Cross - SQUARE ENIX